The present invention relates to durable and attractive boat deck covering or resurfacing materials, and to methods for repairing and/or resurfacing boat decks.
German Patent 3,201,251 describes the application of actual wooden planking to a boat hull made from fiberglass-reinforced plastic. The wooden planking is fastened to ribs which are integrated into the fiberglass-reinforced plastic boat hull. In this way an economical hull can be produced having the technical advantages of a plastic hull with the beauty of a true wooden planking deck.
It is known to use mixtures of polyurethane resin and wood chips to fill and repair damaged wooden parts. Such mixtures are not suitable for the coating or resurfacing of boat decks since they are semi-solid filler pastes for repairing small areas.
Wooden decks are not practical for use on steel or aluminum boats because leakage can lead to corrosion problems after just a few years, which can only be corrected by removing the deck. Decks of such metal boats generally are either painted or treated with a plastic-cork adhesive mixture. The paint must be renewed within a relatively short time, and the plastic-cork mixture is not durable, and is sensitive to damage at is edges and corners. This results in a loss of appearance due to repair work on the hull or the deck.
Plastic or fiberglass boats rarely have wooden decks since they are not essential and are only decorative. The application of wooden decks to such boats is difficult and therefore expensive.
It is desirable to produce durable and attractive covering or surfacing materials for a boat deck which can be applied easily, reliably, inexpensively and at any time, without requiring the removal of fittings such as clamps, winches, railing posts, etc., as present on sail boats, for example. The deck covering should need no special attention and should be very durable. It should also allow for the repair of leaky wooden boat decks without being so apparent as to destroy the natural appearance of the repaired deck.